O2 say my coverage on GiffGaff might not be as good, even though they use O2.....

pinkteapot

Out of contract with O2 and want to go sim-only. GiffGaff are cheaper than O2. Called O2 to cancel and they said that although GiffGaff use their network, they give priority to O2 customers, so I might find that if I move to GiffGaff then my reception is up and down compared to what I'm used to.

Is this true, or is it nonsense?

Ms_Chocaholic

I've never used O2 but moved to GiffGaff from Orange and had no problems, service has been excellent, better than EE in my area.

DUTR

The coverage will be the same, as in you will see a signal, however network access (ability to make and recieve calls ) may be reduced.
That said there are many on virtual networks that have acceptable service.

pinkteapot

Thanks both. I'm just Googling and found the GiffGaff forums, where there's discussion about this. There are people reporting that their internet access (over 3G) runs slower since they moved from O2 to GiffGaff. This seems to be the main area where it can differ.

Ms_Chocaholic

You need to consider also what you use your phone for?
I use my phone far more to text and use data than calls and I've had no probs.

DUTR

pinkteapot wrote: »

Thanks both. I'm just Googling and found the GiffGaff forums, where there's discussion about this. There are people reporting that their internet access (over 3G) runs slower since they moved from O2 to GiffGaff. This seems to be the main area where it can differ.

This is also true or can be, I have a lycamobile 4g sim, and the data speed is less than my O2 3g speeds, similar on Tesco mobile too.

pinkteapot

I'm a relatively light user. On average, in the last six months, I've used 180 minutes per month, 60 texts and 120Mb of data. I was looking at sim-only with O2 vs GiffGaff with goody bags.

joeluken

pinkteapot wrote: »

Out of contract with O2 and want to go sim-only. GiffGaff are cheaper than O2. Called O2 to cancel and they said that although GiffGaff use their network, they give priority to O2 customers, so I might find that if I move to GiffGaff then my reception is up and down compared to what I'm used to.

Is this true, or is it nonsense?

I've heard about prioritisation but I'm not sure how that can be proven in terms of voice. However, giffgaff is defiantly a poor relation in terms of internet i.e. 3G data performance and it's a source of many complaints and customers leaving. I have a spare giffgaff sim and based on my experience I would not recommend if data is important.

See here for more info on data performance which includes comparisons with o2 -

http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Contribute/what-3g-speeds-do-you-get-has-it-got-worse-lately-edited/td-p/12005946

http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/News-Announcements/Data-Experience-Discussion/td-p/12877838

d123

pinkteapot wrote: »

Thanks both. I'm just Googling and found the GiffGaff forums, where there's discussion about this. There are people reporting that their internet access (over 3G) runs slower since they moved from O2 to GiffGaff. This seems to be the main area where it can differ.

This is right, in essence they run on the same network so calls and texts usually work exactly the same on both (but at times of high usage, for example, New Years Eve, an O2 contract customer could have a higher priority on the network than a Giffgaff PAYG user).

With data usage, the network can control speeds and priorities on a everyday basis, and while I often find Giffgaff to be very good (better than any Vodafone line), it can slow down to under 1Mbps at busy times (Giffgaff are currently working on procedures to sort this).

For normal usage, there is no reason not to use Giffgaff.

pinkteapot

Thanks both. I'll ponder on the 3G internet issue (I have an iPhone 4S so 4G is a non-issue).

As I said, I'm going sim-only but at first I didn't want a 12 month contract, as my handset is two years old and might die. However, O2 said that on their 12-month sim-only deals you can upgrade after 90 days, so I could upgrade and get a new phone if I wanted, even though I'm in contract.

Options are:

1. Stay on O2. 12-month sim only contract at £9/month. 300 mins and 300Mb.

2. Move to GiffGaff. No tie-in. £10/month for 500 mins and 1Gb data.

Was tempted by GiffGaff as there's no tie-in, and I'd get so much more for my money. But then, what's the point in having mins and data I don't use?

O2 just annoyed me as I've been with them for years now and the retentions girl couldn't offer anything better than they offer online. But that's not really a reason to leave.

When I do use mobile internet, it would annoy me if it ran slowly, so this is making me lean towards staying with O2. Also that if I exceed my allowances with them, I just get billed. From what I can see, GiffGaff is PAYG so you have to remember to keep it topped up with a few quid in case you go over your allowances or make calls to numbers that aren't included in the goody bag.

Mostly, I started this thread to check that O2 weren't talking sh&te about a competitor.

boatman

By all means give them a go it may be ok where you are, all i can say is Bournemouth has been hopeless with Giffgaff, calls cut off, non existent 3g and text coming through next day, nothing wrong with the phone as used with other networks so has to be giffgaff.